'Suicide bomber' eludes security - twice

'Suicide bomber' eludes security - twice (thanks TPRS)

Arlyn dela Cruz, Philippine Daily Inquirer:

A MAN WEARING a jacket and carrying a bag was able to sneak a bomb onto a flight from Manila to Davao City last month at the height of the nationwide security alert after Britain uncovered a plot to blow up transatlantic planes.

The man pulled off the same stunt on the return flight to Manila.

Had he detonated the bomb, he would have turned the commercial plane into a fireball and killed himself, the crew and hundreds of other passengers.

The man turned out to be a civilian antiterrorism expert tapped by a government official to test security measures at Philippine airports after British police foiled a plan to blow up US-bound planes in midair using liquid explosives.

Security was tightened at London’s Heathrow airport on Aug. 10, setting off alarms at airports across the globe, including in the Philippines.

But the security and antiterrorism expert, who asked not to be named because of his work, said he managed to bring the bomb and its components onto the plane on Aug. 14 despite the additional security measures at the Manila domestic airport, like the banning of hand-carried fluids and gels.

Jack Cluth nails it:

Every time a new plot is uncovered, the security strategy is reactively ratcheted up a notch. First, it was shoes. Recently, it was sports drinks, lattes, and hair gel. I hate to think what might happen when someone tries to carry a bomb onto a plane in their underwear, or, even worse, as a suppository. (Sir…please…just give me your boarding pass and then bend over and cough….)

To those of you worried about the terrorists winning, well, you’re a bit late. That train left the station long ago. We’ve allowed our government and our own fear and paranoia to create a system that eventually will lead to the ultimate indignity- we’ll all be flying naked after a prostate exam. Let’s hope the airlines will at least give us towels to sit on.